The Rotten Special: Bonnie Rotten Looks Back at 2018

Photo above courtesy Brazzers. See more Bonnie Rotten photos in the December issue of AVN magazine.

Bonnie Rotten never does anything without going big—and her return to porn performing this year was no exception.

The 2014 AVN Female Performer of the Year signed an exclusive performance contract with Brazzers in May in a deal that entailed her appearing in sex scenes for the first time in more than three years. At press time she had six new scenes on Brazzers.com, with many more on the way.

“Obviously, if I was gonna make a comeback I wanted it to be a big comeback and I wanted it to be with the biggest company I could be with,” Rotten tells AVN. “Once we talked it made a lot of sense for us to join forces. I’ve always had a great relationship with them. They’ve always been family to me.”

The first Brazzers scene with Rotten since March 30, 2015, premiered in August—a rowdy three-way with Xander Corvus and Toni Ribas aptly titled “The Cumback” in which Rotten does double anal and double vag.

“It’s the Rotten Special—you never know what will happen,” she says with a laugh.

Rotten admits she was “so nervous” about performing again, but a ladies-only lunch with Lisa Ann helped calm her nerves.

“I told Lisa Ann, dude, I don’t know if I can do this. What if I’m not the same kind of performer? What if I suck?” Rotten recalls. “But she told me, ’It’s all gonna be good,’ and she gave me a great pep talk.

“They eased me into a couple of Mofos scenes, so it was a good transition back in. It gave me a chance to warm up.”

Even though Rotten took a hiatus from performing, she stayed active in the industry, producing for Elegant Angel and Beate Uhse. and releasing movies through Juicy.

She says the most valuable lesson she’s learned since her career started in 2012 is that she is in control of her brand.

“A lot of people make you feel like they have the power, but in reality you’re the performer and you have the power and you have the image,” she says. “It takes you a lot of time to realize that and maximize that. … I’m still figuring it out.”

Rotten says one of her 2018 highlights was starring in the horror porn feature Save Our Souls, which she shot in London under the direction of British performer/director Danny D. In the movie, which came out on Halloween through Brazzers’ sister studio Digital Playground, Rotten plays a high-powered businesswoman named Lydia who is “a psycho.”

“That one was epic,” she says. “We go to this wellness retreat and we all get possessed.

“Danny’s a great director and his team is really awesome. I have to give it to him.”

She also says that Brazzers veteran shot-caller Brando, a go-to guy in Vegas, is “one of my favorite directors.”

“He’s always pushed for me,” Rotten says. “He’s shot me since I was 18. I’ve always had a lot of admiration for him as a director and as an artist. I’m very comfortable shooting for him.”